Index to Codes and Types of Agreements and Accounts

The Maritime History Archive (MHA) holds 50,000 boxes containing various types of voyage-related documents depending on the nature and date of the voyage. The British Board of Trade (BT) created the documents and the Register General of Shipping and Seamen (RGSS) issued them to ships. Local shipping offices filled out the forms, witnessed the signing-on of crews at the beginning of the voyage, and collected the documents at journey's end. These were then reviewed and archived by the RGSS in London. The earliest documents were called “Schedules” and consisted of a variety of forms dedicated to specific purposes. Starting in 1870, schedules were amalgamated into one document called an “Engagement.”

During the 1970s the MHA created an index by year and official number for the “Agreements and Accounts of Crew and Official Logbooks for British Empire Vessels” using a database on a mainframe computer. Because computer space was very expensive during those years, to minimize memory usage all the material in any one official number for any single year was described using only two characters.

The first character is a letter describing the type of document. The letters of the code were assigned arbitrarily and do not correspond with the names of the actual documents.

The second character is a number, either a 1 or a 2. The number 1 means an official log is present and the number 2 means no official log is present.

When you search the index, the code will appear next to the voyage year the MHA holds in its collection. The table below has been designed to tell you what these codes mean. It includes information on:

• the MHA Index Code

• whether an Official Log is present with the crew agreement.

• a title and description of the document's purpose.

• the “Lineage” of the document, which gives a brief history of the document and how it relates to the other documents in the collection.

• the type of document and a link to a sample image, which will show you what the document you request will look like.

MHAIndexCode

OfficialLog

Board of Trade TitleDescriptionLineage

Board of Trade Document Type(Click on thumbnail for sample image.)

A1

A2

Official Log Present

No Official Log Present

Title: Agreement for Pleasure Yachts.Description: An Agreement between the ship's master and the crew of a vessel over 15 tons, and not intended for cargo.Lineage: Began to appear just after 1857 with the adoption of the official number system, and about the same time as Schedule A and C. Though Schedule A and C were replaced by Engagement 1, A3 agreements for pleasure yachts continued to be used.

Agreement A3

B1

B2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Account of Changes in the Crew of a Foreign-Going Ship before final departure from the United Kingdom.Description: A list of seafarers who died, deserted, or otherwise left the ship, and information on substitutes engaged. The only Engagement document that is a list. It was used in tandem with the Engagement 1 Agreement.Lineage: Replaced Schedule G in 1867, and began to appear in 1869.

Eng. 2

C1

C2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: List of Crew and other particulars of a Foreign-Going or Home Trade Ship.Description: A Crew List for either a home trade or a foreign-going voyage. It was useful for vessels switching frequently between both types of voyages. It includes information on reports of character for crew and wages due.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act.

List C & D

D1

Official Log Present

Title: Official Log Book and Account of Voyages and Crew for vessels of less than 80 tons register; exclusively employed upon the coasts of the United Kingdom.Description: An account of voyages and crew and an official logbook in one bound document.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1883 Merchant Shipping Act.

List D & O.7.

E1

E2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement and Account of Crew (Foreign-Going Ship).Description: Contained information on the particulars of engagement and discharge for one voyage.Lineage: Engagement 1 amalgamated and replaced Schedule A, AC, and M. It began to appear about 1869 and became the template for other types of crew agreements. With slight modifications, this is the form that survived into the 1970s.

Eng. 1

F1

F2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement for Foreign-Going Ship.Description: Agreement between master and crew on the particulars of the voyage. Includes information on minimum daily provisions for crew, capacity of each crewmember, and wages paid for the voyage.Lineage: Replaced by Engagement 1 from 1867 Merchant Shipping Act.

Agreement A

G1

G2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Half-Yearly Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew of a Ship engaged in the Home Trade only.Description: Includes information on the particulars of engagement and discharge for a six-month period, which could include multiple voyages. Some later forms contain official logs bound into the document.Lineage: Replaced Schedule B and List D about 1874. It became the template for all Home Trade agreements.

Eng. 6

H1

H2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement or Articles and Account of Crew (Canadian Foreign Sea-Going Ship or Canadian Home-Trade Ship).Description: Document produced by the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries. It was used by Canadian Foreign Sea-going Ships, which included vessels registered in the Provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island travelling to ports both inside and outside of Canada.Lineage: Similar in form and content to Engagement 1.

Eng. H

I1

I2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement and Account of Crew (Foreign-Going Ship).Description: Contains information on Engagement, Wages, and Discharge, but not Release (See Code M).Lineage: A combination of Schedules A and C, which continued to be used during this period in the 1860s. Replaced by Engagement 1 in 1867.

Agreement AC

J1

J2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Account of Crew of Foreign-Going Ship, to be delivered at the end of the voyage to the shipping master at the “above” Port. OR: A List of the Crew (including Master and Apprentices) at the time of departure from a Port in the United Kingdom.Description: A crew list filled out by the master, and kept for the voyage as the master's copy. These lists recorded one voyage.Lineage: Usually used in conjunction with Schedules A and Release M. It was replaced by Engagement 1 in 1867. Reappears after 1883 Merchant Shipping Act in small numbers.

List C

K1

K2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement and Account of Crew (Foreign-Going Ship). Office Copy.Description: This red list includes information from the start of the voyage but was retained by officials only if the original Crew Agreement was lost, either by the master's negligence or through shipwreck. It therefore contains information from the start of the voyage only, without any discharge information. It also includes the home addresses of masters and crew, which the Engagement 1 does not have. Office copies were never created for home trade voyages. Lineage: Began to appear about 1869. Like the Engagement 1, it was an agreement and list that combined Schedule A and List C.

Eng. 1(Office Copy)

L1

Official Log Present

Title: Official Log Book for either Foreign-Going or Home Trade Ship.Description: The official logbook often contains reports on crewmembers ability and seamanship. It may also contain noteworthy events of the voyage and the wages and effects of any seamen who died on the voyage. Log only, no other documents.Lineage: Official logs were required from the 1850 Merchant Shipping Act and the MHA has a large collection of logbooks from 1863-1874. After 1876, most official logbooks were destroyed by the RGSS to save space. Some logbooks after 1874 were kept, usually when they contained important information such as births or deaths.

Official Log O

M1

M2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Release at the Termination of a Voyage.Description: The form that was signed by the crew to release the ship, the master and the owner(s) from any wage or other claims. Includes addresses of the home shipping office for each crewmember.Lineage: Replaced by Engagement 1 in 1869. Revived for some types of voyages in 1894. Usually found in conjunction with Engagement 2A.

Release M

N2

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Colonial Articles.Description: Agreement signed by the crew of a British registered vessel in any colonial possessions in the British Empire. Often used to engage crew from British Colonies on British registered ships.Lineage: Varied depending on port or colony of origin.

(Not Coded)

O1

O2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Account of Changes made in the Crew of a Foreign-Going Ship at a port out of the United Kingdom, but not made before a Consular or Colonial Officer.Description: Includes information on crewmembers who died at sea or those who failed to join, deserted, or left the ship, and gives a record of the substitutes engaged.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1894 and 1906 Merchant Shipping Acts.

Eng. 2A

P1

P2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement and Account of Crew of a Yacht (Office Copy).Description: Only retained in the event that the Schedule A Agreement was lost. Only contains information on the outward-bound journey (see Code K). Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1874 Merchant Shipping Act.

Agreement A3(Office Copy)

Q1

Q2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Agreement for Home Trade Ship.Description: Agreement between a ship's master and crew for a period of six months.Lineage: Agreement B and List D were amalgamated into Engagement 6 in 1874.

Agreement B

R2

No OfficialLog Present

Title: List of Crew of a Fishing Boat.Description: Includes information on the type of fishing being done and the general area where the fishing will occur, a list of crew, and accounts of apprentices, births, and deaths on board.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act.

List D (Fishing)

S1

Official Log Present

Title: Running Agreement, Account of Voyages and Crew and Official Log Book for a Fishing Boat of 25 Tons Tonnage or upwards.Description: Schedule S Agreements, Lists, and Engagements were solely for fishing vessels. Running Agreements could cover two or more voyages.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1874 Merchant Shipping Act.

Eng. S9

T2

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Office Copy of Running Agreement, and Account of Voyage and Crews of a fishing boat of 25 Tons Tonnage or upwards.Description: Only retained in the event that Agreement S9 was lost (see Code S). Contains information for the outward-bound journey only.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1874 Merchant Shipping Act.

Agreement S9A(Office Copy)

U1

U2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Account of Voyages and Crew of Home Trade Ship, to be delivered Half-Yearly to the Superintendent of a Mercantile Marine Office.Description: A List of Crew, often used in conjunction with Agreement B.Lineage: List D was combined with Agreement B to create the Eng 6 in 1874. However, List D continued to be used.

List D

V1

Official Log Present

Title: Running Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew of a Ship in the Sea Fishing Trade only with Official Log attached.Description: Agreement and list for ocean-bound fishing vessels with log book bound into the document.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1854 Merchant Shipping Act. However, it does not appear until sometime between 1867 and 1893.

Eng. 7

X1

X2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Special Half-Yearly Account of Voyages and Crews of Home Trade Ships when the crews are to be employed in several vessels belonging to the same owners, and have been engaged upon Special Time Agreements under Section 116 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.Description: Home trade list containing records of multiple vessels and voyages owned by same company. The only Engagement document besides Engagement 2 that is a List only, and not also an Agreement.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act.

Eng. 5

Y1

Y2

Official Log Present

No OfficialLog Present

Title: Special Half-Yearly Agreement and Account of Voyages and Crew of Ships engaged in the Home Trade only and belonging to the same Owner.Description: Home trade Agreement containing records of multiple home trade ships owned by the same company.Lineage: Created to fulfill the requirements of the 1894 Merchant Shipping Act.